Earlier this week, Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael
Oren reportedly
said that relations between Israel
and the United States
"are in the state of a tectonic rift in which continents are drifting apart." The implication being that there has been a
shift in the U.S. approach to Israel, led by a president who, unlike his
predecessors, is "not motivated by historical-ideological sentiments toward
Israel but [instead] by cold interests and considerations."
With Netanyahu due in Washington
next week for a visit whose ostensible purpose is to demonstrate that relations
between the two governments are good, these comments have raised some eyebrows.
Oren subsequently denied
saying there was a rift (he said he used the word "shift"), but that doesn't
really matter. Because it sounds so much
like something you'd expect an Israeli official to be saying at this time, when
U.S.-Israeli relations are under the most severe strain since the early 1990s and
the reign of George Bush the elder, that people are ready to believe it. It has what some analysts call the sound of "truthiness."
Which begs the question, is it true? The clear answer is: no.
There is no "tectonic rift" between the United States and Israel. There has been no shift in the U.S. approach
toward Israel. To the extent that things have gotten rocky
between these two allies, it is the result, not of changes in Washington, but of changes in Israel.
Oren, as Israel's
envoy to Washington,
should be engaging in soul-searching over what he and his colleagues can do to
remedy the situation, not acting like a powerless and largely disinterested political
observer.
What we have today is a deeply-rooted and very strong
friendship that is under stress. It is
under stress because friendship is not a one-sided concept: it requires two
people, or two countries, to behave in ways that demonstrate the kind of consideration
and respect that is the bedrock of friendship.
It is a truism that America is Israel's best
friend and unshakeable ally. And the
Obama administration has demonstrated this, over and over: with its defense of Israel in the
face of the Goldstone Report; with unprecedented military/security support and
cooperation; with its defense of Israel following the Gaza flotilla debacle; with
its support for Israel
entering the OECD; with its ever-tougher approach to Iran. And with its resolute commitment to something
that, for years, successive U.S.
administrations have strived to achieve: peace for Israel, which is the single most
important thing for Israel's
survival as a Jewish, democratic state.
Unfortunately, the Netanyahu government has failed to
respond to the Obama administration's friendship in kind. To the contrary, almost since the day
Netanyahu took office, there has been a seemingly non-stop stream of actions
and policies that almost seem designed to provoke and embarrass the Obama administration.
Who can argue that Israeli game-playing over the
settlement moratorium -- turning a potential catalyst for the peace process into
a months-long humiliation for the Obama administration -- were the actions of a
friend? Or that announcing expansion
plans for the East Jerusalem settlement of
Gilo at virtually the same time as the moratorium was announced was the action
of an ally?
Or who can forget the announcement of plans to expand the East Jerusalem settlement of Ramat Shlomo, an
announcement made during Vice President Biden's visit to Israel -- a
visit that had been planned for the express purpose of showing solidarity with Israel? Or the announcement, during Prime Minister
Netanyahu's subsequent visit to Washington,
of the issuance of building permits for the construction of a settlement
compound on the site of East Jerusalem's Shepherd
Hotel?
Sadly, these are but a few examples -- there are many more.
Netanyahu has played this game before. As prime minister in the late 1990s, he repeatedly
embarrassed the Clinton administration as he worked to evade Israeli
obligations under the Olso peace process and built the East
Jerusalem settlement of Har Homa, over strenuous U.S. objections.
Under Obama, U.S. policy toward Israel has not
shifted. Today the United States continues to
behave in all ways as a real ally and friend to Israel. And in
response, it has seen this friendship taken for granted. Rather than friendship, we have settlement
expansion. Rather than respect, we have
new home demolitions in Jerusalem. Rather than recognition of U.S. concerns, we
have Israeli officials who cultivate a public narrative that U.S.-Israeli
relations are falling apart.
It should pain anyone who cares about Israel to see
the direction this friendship is taking.
It should worry anyone who cares about the U.S.-Israeli alliance to see Israel act so
dismissively in the face of serious and reasonable U.S. concerns.
U.S. support for Israel is indeed unshakeable, but
friendship goes both ways. Rather than
wasting time lamenting the supposed shifts and rifts in the U.S.-Israeli
relationship, the Netanyahu government should stop the provocations and the
political machinations and start acting like a real friend and ally. It can do this by demonstrating a real
commitment to the Obama administration's efforts to end the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict.
Netanyahu's visit to the White House next week is a good
place to start.
Lara
Friedman is Director of Policy and Government Relations for Americans
for Peace Now.
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